I don't have any control over what actually happens except for that I have full control over my will for myself, my intention, and why I'm there. That's all that matters.
SZA
Control is not real, and I'm really understanding that every day. It's about the acceptance of relinquishing control that makes it powerful for you.
I'm a Scorpio with a Pisces moon. I am very critical of myself. I'm actually way less critical of others than I am of myself. I'm in my own head a lot. It's hard and really discouraging.
As long as you're being honest and there's intention in what you're doing, then I think that energy permeates your field and becomes like a homing signal for other people with like energies.
Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.
I love food, so having a lot of food allergies now and just having a really sensitive body, it forces me to be very mindful and conscious and eat when I'm hungry, not just when I'm bored, and just really slow down. Everything in moderation.
I want to excel at something, to follow through, to not be afraid.
It starts with trusting yourself, even if people are telling you you're too young to trust yourself.
I've always loved playing with hair. I used to want dreads like Lauryn Hill, but my mom wouldn't let me.
I don't want to speak negativity into existence.
I was born in St. Louis, but I'm from Maplewood, New Jersey. Maplewood is completely different than the rest of New Jersey. It's very small. It's quietly affluent but more low-key. Lauryn Hill is from my town, though.
I wasn't popular in high school; I had no friends.
Especially when I'm nervous, my mind is running a mile a minute. My ADHD speaks for me before I can speak for me.
Every day I grapple between 'I'm going to get married' and 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life alone with a poodle.'
My mom didn't let me eat sugar or candy until I was older.
I don't feel ashamed to be loud, which is an argument I've had with lots of men, who thought I was too sassy and unladylike.
I feel like when you say 'activist,' you have to have so much clarity, and I don't always necessarily have so much clarity on how I want to help others, I just have this weird, deep urge to help other people. I'm trying to let God guide my body and use it as whatever kind of vehicle or vessel it needs to be.
I learned everything the hard way - like, literally, everything. I know that God does that to people that he has lessons for. I just wish that I had learned less extreme lessons.
I love the comparison with Aaliyah and Timbaland, because Aaliyah is a legend, and there is a large cinematic feel to Timbaland's sound, but what I do is different.
I definitely get inspiration from the 'gram. I mean, Instagram is Google, essentially. I love looking at pictures of beautiful women.
When you're, like, 190 pounds, dark-skinned, and a new artist that no one really cares about, people don't really take the time to make you look beautiful.
I used to be offended when people would compare me to Erykah Badu. Because I'm black, thick, and have large lips? There's nothing similar about us whatsoever, and I felt very disrespected by the fact that people needed to pigeonhole me. I wasn't even raised on Erykah Badu!
You can take care of your body, and it will low-key show you respect in turn.
I feel like every outfit I have ever planned ahead is trash.
I have an abundant amount of love in my life, and I'm grateful for that.
I always wanted to be a Klingon princess. They were so pretty, and their hair was fire. My hair is Klingon, I feel like.
I use Ecoco EcoStyler gel, but the alcohol-free protein one. That's the key.
I used to be very revenge-motivated, but that's just because I'm a Scorpio. Now I'm more so, like, practice honesty just because it makes you feel better.
I worry so much. Like, 'Damn, how can I be excellent?' But it's a journey.
So many people meet and become friends at my shows that didn't know each other before.
My mom was an executive at AT&T, a global account lady. I have no idea what she did. I just know she was never home and speaks several languages.
I always used to be like, 'I don't need to meditate.' And it's not true.
I don't think I'm inherently feminist. I think the universe wants me to be feminist, and I think I resonate with that. I think it just chose me to be this female energy... thing. And I'm very drawn to female energy, but I don't really have any prerequisites in feminism. I just roll with it.
I went through this phase of Spandex, high heels, and fur coats when I was my late teens and early twenties; before then, I lived in overalls and baggy T-shirts.
My parents are really conservative. My dad is Muslim, and my mom is the most conservative woman you've ever met. They're very aristocratic in the most quaint suburban way.
My anxiety stems from my lack of control no matter what.
I don't enjoy being interviewed. I feel like it exhausts a lot of my energy. I feel empty after.
The album that defined my childhood was probably Ella Fitzgerald's 'Greatest Hits,' whereas my half-sister, who didn't have the same conservative upbringing, was listening to Cash Money and crunk.
I try to think of myself as a chic fishing grandpa aesthetically.
I'm a visual learner, so film is a huge inspiration to me.
When your parents regulate everything you hear and everything you intake, it forces you to get creative in other ways. It sparked the writing bug and the very overactive imagination. Because I've had a lot of time by myself and a lot of time isolated from regular culture, I created my own.
We're changing little girls' lives across the world, and we didn't even know what we were doing when we started.
I definitely want to get into environmental science and environmental politics, learning a lot more and preserving what's left of the world. That's such a sacred circle to be in. I'd love to contribute to that.
I just think I have too much anxiety to listen to music. Sometimes it feels like noise, and sometimes it's so affecting that I can't recover from it.
How many thick black women are there singing whatever I'm singing, surrounded by rappers, but also from the suburbs? I can't really judge someone else for judging me!
I don't have a primary doctor, a primary hairstylist, a primary anything. I don't even have a primary address! Everything is just whenever I can find one.
I was raised orthodox Muslim. Very sheltered, very conservative.
Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you want it to do... Give it some time. That's the only way to get to know yourself.
I don't listen to my own music, so to me, it's awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn't connect with everyone. I'm more appreciative than anything.
On Halloween, because we don't celebrate it, my dad would drive me somewhere, anywhere different. Like Little Italy in New York to walk around and teach me all about the food and culture.
